Alternative Investment Research

Segal Rogerscasey Canada has been providing alternative investment consulting services for more than 20 years across a variety of economic climates. In addition to offering traditional consulting advice, we are able to serve as an outsourced investment manager of alternatives portfolios on a fully discretionary basis. With a team of dedicated analysts, including former plan sponsors, investment managers and consultants, we pursue a “practitioner’s” approach to research that brings both insight and experience to the development and implementation of alternative investment portfolios.

Our asset class coverage is extensive and includes:

Private equity

Hedge funds

Real estate

Hard assets (infrastructure, natural resources and commodities)

Opportunistic credit and special situations

Segal Rogerscasey Canada provides clients with in-depth asset class education along with specific advice on how to incorporate these strategies into an investment policy and further structure a program using either direct funds, funds of funds or a combination of both in a “core satellite” portfolio configuration.

Our Approach

Segal Rogerscasey Canada evaluates the launch or expansion of an alternative investment program within the context of the overall client portfolio, its taking into account the portfolio’s risk tolerance, return objectives and liquidity. This holistic understanding of the total portfolio is important in measuring and monitoring whether the alternative investment allocation is contributing to the achievement of the overall portfolio objectives. Our broader research expertise in asset allocation, capital markets, traditional asset class strategies and manager evaluation and selection gives us a unique understanding of the role of alternative investments within the client’s master plan.

Given the variety of strategies within the alternative investment universe and the inherent risk and wide dispersion of performance between the top performers and the rest of a peer group, our critical success factors are:

Manager sourcing

Screening

Due diligence

Monitoring

We focus on the fine details of each and apply them with consistency and discipline when constructing a portfolio. This mastery forms the core of our alternative investment advisory approach.

Each of the following factors help to systematically identify managers and provide enhanced access to, and oversight of, highly-subscribed fund offerings:

Sourcing: We proactively establish relationships with top-tier managers by leveraging our extensive industry network and longstanding consulting reputation. Our alternative research team conducts approximately 500 meetings per year with established and emerging managers.

Screening and Due Diligence: Fund offerings are screened following initial manager meetings or solicitations based on a variety of metrics to determine if further probative due diligence is warranted. If so, our proprietary qualitative and quantitative Manager Research & Ranking (MR2) process provides a framework for evaluation that is further augmented by multiple onsite visits, document review, operations/back office examination and extensive background and reference checks. The result is a ratings designation that reflects a relative degree of conviction regarding the favorability of a manager and strategy. The ultimate objective is to fully validate a manager’s potential for producing alpha, while mitigating adverse selection risk.